Internships at emlyon: choosing a setting, scoping the assignment, validating it

A period in a company required for the degree

According to information published by emlyon's Career Center, every initial-training programme includes a period of immersion in a company, whatever its length or the admission route. For Master in Management students, this experience determines whether the degree is validated under the “professional experience” requirement.

The internship can take place during the course or in a gap year. This flexibility lets you adapt the calendar to your plans: chain two complementary experiences, try life in a young company and then in a large group, or go abroad. The school's page does not set a single minimum length: the duration you must meet depends on your programme, and the regulations you were given are what count.

Above all, remember that the experience is not just about being present: it is evaluated, and that evaluation feeds into whether the requirement is validated. The quality of the assignment matters as much as its prestige.

Choosing a setting where your contribution shows

A newly founded company and an established organisation can both offer a worthwhile assignment, provided the need is explicit. What separates a good experience from a disappointing one is rarely the size of the organisation, but the clarity of what is expected of you.

• In a young company: you touch several subjects and see decisions made quickly, but supervision may be light. Ask who your day-to-day contact will be.
• In a large group: processes are structured, tools proven, teams large. In return, your scope may be narrow; check that it includes a subject you can present as your own.
• In an SME or mid-sized company: a good compromise, often with direct access to senior managers and cross-functional projects.

First of all, describe the problem you want to learn to tackle: launching a product, commercial analysis, coordinating a project, setting up reporting. Link this ambition to the stage you have reached in your emlyon programme, so that the assignment is at your level.

Framing the assignment as a small project

Putting forward ideas is a strength, but it does not excuse you from understanding the team's priorities and constraints. A convincing intern arrives with a question, not a ready-made solution.

Before signing, try to get five things in writing:

1. the need to be met, stated in one or two sentences;
2. the deliverable expected at the end (an analysis, an action plan, a tool, a launch file);
3. the people you will work with;
4. the rhythm of progress meetings, for example a fifteen-minute weekly meeting;
5. the indicators that will show whether the assignment has succeeded.

This discipline protects both sides. The company knows what it will get; you know what you will be able to talk about in interviews, on your CV and, later, when presenting your experience to the school.

The digital agreement and the validation process

According to the school, internship agreement requests go through a dedicated platform, with academic validation followed by administrative validation. All parties then sign the agreement digitally, and the signature must be completed before the internship begins. The Career Center says it processes more than 5,500 agreements a year, with start dates concentrated around early January and early July.

These benchmarks have practical consequences:

• an offer accepted in mid-June for an early-July start leaves very little margin if the company is slow to sign;
• peak periods can lengthen processing times, so submit your request as soon as the information is complete;
• the form you fill in must faithfully reflect the announced duties, since academic validation is based on it.

On the company side, tell the human resources department early that signing is digital and that several people must validate. Many employers already know the process, but not all.

The final evaluation and what it involves

About a month before the internship ends, the company automatically receives a final evaluation to complete. According to the school, the mark obtained is used to decide whether the professional experience requirement is validated. This means that following an internship is not limited to the last week.

A few simple habits help you approach this stage calmly:

• ask your tutor in the first month how they judge successful work;
• request interim feedback halfway through, to correct in time anything that needs it;
• keep a written record of the deliverables you hand over and the feedback you receive;
• warn your tutor that the form is about to arrive, so that it is completed without delay.

A tutor who is hard to reach is not your fault, but it is your responsibility to flag a difficulty early, first to the company and then to the school, rather than at the end of the assignment.

Internship or apprenticeship: two different logics

Emlyon also runs apprenticeship tracks through its in-house training centre. The school says that the final year of the MSc in Management is among the programmes offered as work-study, by apprenticeship contract only, with intakes in January or September and classes on the Lyon campus. It reports more than 600 apprentices in September 2024.

Comparing it with an internship clarifies the choice:

• an internship is a supervised period of application under an agreement; an apprenticeship is an employment contract with a salary;
• work-study lasts the whole academic year and requires you to find the company before or around the start;
• an internship lets you try several environments in turn, an apprenticeship lets you go deeper with a single employer.

If the alternating rhythm appeals to you, find out early about the admission or eligibility phases, and then about the centre's support in finding a company.

A worked example to scope a launch assignment

Here is a hypothetical illustration, with round figures, to show what solid scoping can achieve.

Karim joins a fifty-person young company that is preparing to launch a product range in two regions. The written assignment comes down to one sentence: “structure the local market analysis and propose a three-stage launch plan”. The deliverable is a twenty-page report and a ten-minute presentation to the sales director, at the end of the fourth month out of six.

Each week, a fifteen-minute meeting clears any blockages. Halfway through, his manager tells him that his pricing assumptions are too optimistic; he revises them, and the final version is chosen for a real test. At the end, Karim can describe a context, a method and a decision obtained. It is this account, more than the job title, that future recruiters will read.

Applying with a file that reassures

Recruiters in young organisations look for autonomous, curious profiles who can learn fast. Those in established groups value rigour and an understanding of processes. In both cases, adjust your application.

• Write a one-page CV with three or four achievements backed by figures, rather than a list of responsibilities.
• In the cover letter, state the problem you could help tackle and how you would start.
• Prepare two examples of initiative, including one where you had to give up an idea for lack of resources or time.
• Research the product, the customers and the competitors before any interview.

The Career Center's resources and the information intended for employers help you prepare these applications and check that the assignment really matches your level.